Facebook using Artificial Intelligence to help blind people to 'see'

Facebook has launched a new automatic text feature which uses machine learning technology to identify objects in photographs. Users of Facebook who are blind or visually impaired can now benefit from the technology when using the social networking site. The artificial intelligence system uses image recognition technology to caption photographs with keywords to improve the accessibility of the site for disabled users. Writing on the'Research at Facebook' Blog, software engineer Shaomei Wu said: "While visual content provides a fun and expressive way for people to communicate online, it also creates challenges for people with low vision or blindness. The challenges arise in both creating and consuming visual content. As a result, some people can feel isolated and frustrated when they can not fully participate in the interaction around visual content. "To achieve our mission of making the world more open and connected, we have to connect people of all backgrounds and abilities.